Joburg Noir: A Book Review

I fell in love with contemporary African literature a long time ago. Literature I could envision myself in, literature that told my story better than I could imagine myself doing. I found slice in it. It cried for me, celebrated on my behalf, embraced me and screamed to world who I was when I could not.

I fell in love with African literature a long time ago. When I saw it open doors of my imagination I never knew were there. To see mirrors, people like me in these books. Things I never saw growing up and it warms my heart. This book was no different.

I saw myself or someone I knew in a lot of the stories. I recognised stories we were told growing up even though these were set in Joburg. To me it said we are all one and the same. It told stories I am at times scared to articulate, it humanised me and my people. It told of relationships, friendships that some may not understand.

Like any city, Joburg is bright and vibrant but Joburg also devours and destroys.

Things I Liked About The Book:

1. I liked how reading this book felt. It tells raw stories that could be anywhere in Africa and still be true.

2. I loved the diversity of authors chosen for the compilation. I recognised a few names but most were new to me. It’s great when you meet a new writer and their writing is great!

3. This was such an easy read for me. It took me 4 days with everything else still going on as usual for me to finish it. Super quick read.

P.s. on the down side I really didn’t like how almost unfinished most of the stories felt. I really didn’t like how I would feel like I was left hanging just before the climax of the story after the last sentence.

An overall great read!

Upon the Sands: A Book Review

This book was gifted to me by Jeremy Forsyth in return for an honest review.

Signed copy!!

I have read fantasy before (mostly along the Harry Potter lines) and if you know me, then you know I have become quite a sucker for African fantasy (is that the official name?). This book, however, was a delve into uncharted territory for me.

I struggled a bit getting into the rhythm of the book, getting to see the world Jeremy had created and I won’t lie, I thought it was going to go on my DNF reading list more than once but as an author myself I get what Jeremy is trying to do so I willed myself and kept reading those first hundred pages. Part of the struggle I definately attribute to not reading any of Jeremy’s earlier books which would have acted as an introduction to the Elven world. I am definately glad I stuck it out though because it is such a great read.

Jeremy’s earlier books

The book is the first in a series titled a Symphony of Shadow and Darkness.

Upon the Sands

The book is set in the Elvin Realms with a particular focus on the Moon elves. Although the Moon’s reign seems steady at the beginning of the book, a series of what seems like coordinated events want to threaten that. With assassination attempts against the Throne, attacks on Blade masters including those that have left the Realm, dark prophecies and jeopadised alliances by the end of the book I was envoloped and engrossed. I was obsessed with this book and couldn’t wait to find out what happened next.

Map of Alepion

I was so sad to have finished reading it and couldn’t stand that I was left hanging, I wish I had book two right there with me.

Things I loved about the books

1. I loved that although this book is part of a series, it does well as a stand alone book.

2. I love how every character is introduced with a bit of background to give the reader a better understanding

3. I love the unimaginable number of spin offs that can come from this book and I am going to read each and everyone

4. It made me a proper fantasy fan! I wanna be an elf and don’t want to age like a human lol

5. I loved how it made me think, trying to figure out clues and solved seeming riddles in the story!

I definately recommend it and give it a 3.5/5 rating

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‘If you know they will be OK, what is the point of reading? And if you know they will be OK, what is the point of me writing? – Jeremy Forsyth

Find more about him and his books here.

10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World : A Book Review

This book was such an easy read. I think I am official a sucker for books with multiple POVs (am I considered a bookish person yet?). The writer, Elif, pushes what we know about death and makes it palettable to the mind. It wasn’t as heavy a read as I thought it would be.

Ps. This review might contain spoilers

Things I loved about the book:

1. Although it jumped around timeline it still kept its flow and readability.

2. It gave insight to all the important characters. All questions about characters where answered before you even asked them.

3. I appreciated how the story when beyond the 10minutes 38 seconds insinuated by the title. I remember when I finished that part of the book thinking but what else is there? But it was there.

4. It one is quirky but I loved how it had no contents page! I didn’t page through so I had no idea what was on the next page til the very end and I loved the Journey.

5. The glossary at the back! This my first read based in Turkey and there were some words I was not familiar with. I really appreated the glossary as it gave more context.

If you are looking for an easy, laid back read without too much drama then this one is for you.

10 Minutes 38 Seconds In This Strange World is a book by Elif Shafak shortlisted for The Booker Prize in 2019, giving context to a lot of social dynamics in Turkey during the late 1900s. In as much as the story is fiction there a lot of real events and places within the story.

Find me on my recent bookstagram page @sue_nyakubaya

Reading Is Back In Style!

Well it has always been, lol!

Despite my resolution to read 50 books this year after I fell in love with reading again last year (thanks to Anci), life happened and I couldn’t! For the most part of the year I didn’t read until now.

Life has calmed a bit and allowed me to read again. If I could I would be screaming right now, ‘I AM READING AGAIN’! In celebration I decided to do a round up of my reads so far.

1. Raybearer

This book! OK, if you know anything about my reading habits you will know that I have been in love with African fantasy (is that what it’s even called?). I love fantasy on a normal day but this genre allows me to see myself in a world full of magic! Me!

So you can imagine my excitement when I opened this book and found the main character’s name is a Shona name! If excitement was a person it would definately be me. Like what a wow!

Goodreads

OK, I know I am supposed to be writing about the book so let me move on.

This book kept me awake at night, depriving me of sleep into wee hours of the night. It was such an easy read and a great way for me to get back into my reading habit. The story has a way of gripping you in a non thriller way. Keeping you wanting more to the very end.

I love how Jordan ended the book as well. An end that wasn’t really an end, giving enough closure for me to put the book down but leaving it enough for me to want to pick up the sequel. I kind of wondered how she would take the story a notch higher in the sequel.

2. Redemptor

Tarisai is the female I always told myself I would be!

Like the first book, this was such an easy flowing read. So much so it occupied my mind every inch while I read it and a while after I didn’t want to pick up another book because it was THAT good!

Goodreads

This girl is the girl I wanted to read about as I grew up one that would tell me that I do anything, I can be anything. She is such a force. And an inspiration to every girl of colour out there. I applaud Jordan for the work she did with both books.

This time around she included LGBTQI characters which also goes a long way in accepting diversity.

What’s on your TBR?

In Her Words: Book Review

My oh my, did I love this book!?

“This compilation is a love letter to Africa women, and a missive to all the other souls who will come across it and give space in their hearts and minds for the varying outlooks and experiences that are contained herein.” – Note from the Editors excerpt

This book was a revelation of journeys African women embark on everyday of their lives. It is stories of gender equality, kinds of feminism and what feminism is to different women.

The very first story had me take a step back and reevaluate. I like to think of myself as very self- aware individual but this story had me asking myself a lot of questions not just in the context of the story but also how we associate with others in different but similar circumstances. It bothers me to say, I have at times judged people I did not understand. FYI no one owes you an explanation on why they believe in the things they do. If they tell you its because they want to.

Things I loved about the book:

1. I loved how eye opening it was. It gave me a new understanding on things I previously thought I understood but only had surface knowledge of.
2. I loved how diverse the stories were, from religion to role models to feminism in society. I also loved the diversity of the writers themselves women from all over Africa wrote their stories.
3. I loved that it was stories that I could easily see myself in, so relatable.
4. I loved that it showed how feminism is not a foreign concept women have been practicing it through out Africa for centuries. Queens ruled here!
5. I loved how feminism was shown not to be black and white. It can not be fit into a certain box but means different things for different people.
6. Bonus! I am such a sucker for quotes. This book has such beautiful quotes at the beginning of each short story from strong women of colour that just made me fuzzy inside. I really loved that.

In Her Words: African Women’s Perspectives on Gender Equality is a compilation of 15 short stories by African women on their life journeys. They talk about what gender equality is to them and what that looks like in their everyday lives.

You can get the book here FREE!

Ps. Isn’t that cover to die for?

I Before We: A Book Review

Last week while scrolling on my twitter TL I came across a book giveaway and me being me I entered.

February is the month of love. In honor of love. I will be giving out a copy of my book to one reader. All you have to do is comment with a red heart ❤️ on this post! Thank you 💚

Announcement of the winner is this Friday pic.twitter.com/3uAjub3YZl

— Oluchi The Author (@oluchiwrites) February 2, 2021

Guess what!? I won! The book arrived on Tuesday and imagine my surprise when I opened it found it was signed! Nothing feels better than the smell of a new book. It really made my day.

At first I really wasn’t sure about the book. I am not one for self care books. I am more in the fantasy spectrum of the book reading community. I get bored easily. I recently delved into the world of African fantasy and it seems to be monopolising my reading. I Before We was therefore a necessary breather.

The book has 10 chapters that are interlinked and aimed at making you take a step back and introspect. It makes you question why you are the way you are and what you are going to do about it. One of the things I loved most about it (I loved a lot of things about it) was that it was so relatable. It didn’t make me feel overwhelmed or out of touch with the concepts being put across.

In one of the chapters, Forgiveness, a Xhosa saying ‘umenzi uyalibala’ made me think of the Shona saying ‘chinokanganwa idemo’ which both essentially mean the doer forgets when they do something to the other but the receiver never does. It further elabolates on why forgiving by the receiver is important. I don’t want to spoil the read so let me stop here.

Things I loved about the book:

1. I loved that it was such a short read with only 73 pages. It didn’t overwhelm me or make me feel like I was about to dose off.

2. I loved the easy to understand simple language. I wasn’t intimidated by what I was reading so it made it easier for me to read and understand.

3. I loved that it forced me to introspect at the end of each chapter. The activities at the end of the chapters make you think even if you don’t want to. They also serve as mind cleansers for you to recentre before diving into the next chapter and all that it comes with.

4. I loved how she put her personal life experiences as examples for better understanding. It made me feel like I am getting advice from an older sister. Although at some points it did feel like I was reading someone’s diary which gives me the gibbers.

5. I love how she starts every chapter with a quote. They are so profound and some I hadn’t heard of until now.

This book really made me happy and I hope to read more books from the author.

I, Before We is a self help book written by Oluchi B. Kolanisi (author and business coach) that takes you through her life journey and what she learnt. It teaches you how to look at yourself in a holistic view to allow self growth.

I, Before We was published by KZN based self publishers Reach Publishers. It can be purchased on Takealot and Amazon.